Polyglot Volume 4 Issue 15

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Volume #4

Issue #15

A free publication by Polymancer® Studios, Inc..20 Weredale Park, Westmount QC, H3Z 1Y6 CANADA

(514) 667-1585 (Canada) • Skype: Polymancer • Twitter: [email protected], www.polymancer.com

New Edition of Warmachine is Met With Huge Success ______________ 1NBM In February: Back to the Louvre! _________________________ 2Lone Wolf 13 – Now Shipping! ________________________________ 2WoW® TCG World Championships at Gen Con Indy 2010! ___________3News from Avalanche Press _________________________________ 4Mega-City One Archives – Free Previews _______________________ 6The Latest Free Downloads from Polymancer Studios _______________7Mongoose Publishing Drivethru PDF Update ____________________ 8News from FineScale Modeler _______________________________ 9Monsterpocalypse Series 5: Big In Japan ________________________ 10Mongoose Publishing: New Books Just Arrived! __________________ 11Register for ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards __________ 12New reviews from OneBookshelf.com _________________________ 13News from Dark Sword Miniatures – 5 New Greens Posted __________ 19

Tips from About.com ______________________________________20Signs & Portents 76 – Ready to Download _______________________ 21Northeast TITAN Championship _____________________________22Newest high resolution pictures from IXO_______________________24More Reviews from DriveThruRPG.com and a Charity Offer ________ 35Star Fleet Alert: Happy New Year from ADB, Inc.! _________________42Printing and Design Tips from PrintIndustry.com _________________43From Reflexive Arcade _____________________________________44News from Battlefront.com __________________________________45Ambrosia Releases Soundboard 1.0.5 __________________________ 46Tech News from ZDNet ____________________________________47News from GameIndustry.com _______________________________48Legal notice regarding the content of Polyglot™ __________________49

New Edition of Warmachine is Met With Huge SuccessBellevue WA — Privateer Press is

pleased to announce that the release of WARMACHINE Prime Mk II has meet with great success worldwide. After only five days, WARMACHINE Prime Mk II has become the best selling WARMACHINE book ever released by Privateer Press.

When asked about the success of the new edition of the WARMACHINE miniatures game, Privateer Press Chief Creative Officer Matt Wilson said, “MKII is an incredible book and is the culmination of years worth of development. After so much work and effort, it’s fantastic to see such an amazing response to WARMACHINE Mk II. The volume of sales indicates that not only has Mk II pleased our existing players, but we’re getting a great deal of interest from new players as well, and those were both top goals of ours with this project.”

WARMACHINE Prime Mk II was released worldwide on January 6, 2010 and will be followed by faction-specific sourcebooks cover the various nations of the WARMACHINE universe. The first in series Forces of WARMACHINE: Cygnar releases February 2010.

For more information on WARMACHINE, visit privateerpress.com.

About Privateer Press, Inc.

Privateer Press, Inc. is a privately held producer of entertainment and hobby brands based in the Seattle area. Its products include the newly released Monsterpocalypse collectible miniatures game, the award-winning WARMACHINE and HORDES hobby miniatures games, the award-winning Iron Kingdoms property, Bodger Games, the full-color No Quarter Magazine, and the Formula P3 hobby line. To learn more about Privateer Press, visit or contact the president, Sherry Yeary, at (425) 643-5900 or [email protected].

About WARMACHINE and HORDES

WARMACHINE and HORDES are the critically acclaimed tabletop games of miniatures combat designed by game industry veteran Matt Wilson and placed in the award-winning setting of the Iron Kingdoms. WARMACHINE was first released in 2003 and has won several awards, including Gamers’ Choice Best Miniatures of the Year and Game of the Year at the 2006 Origins Awards. HORDES, first released in 2006, was named Miniatures Game of the Year at the 2007 Origins Awards and is one of the fastest-growing miniatures games on the market.

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http://www.privateerpress.com


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ON THE ODD HOURS by ERIC LIBERGE

The highly successful series of graphic novels co-published with the Louvre museum in Paris (GLACIAL PERIOD, MUSEUM VAULTS) continues with its next outstanding graphic novel. This time, the author invites us on a guided tour of the museum… by night… when the works of art come alive. Our guide: a deaf night watchman who somehow manages to communicate with the souls of those ethereal and timeless works of art. A visual tour de force with a strong edge of the frighteningly fantastic. 61/2 x 9, 72pp, full color trade paperback with flaps: $14.95, ISBN 978-1-56163-577-1

For a preview: http://www.nbmpub.com/comicslit/oddhours/oddhourspre1.html

And from NBM/EUROTICA: SIZZLE #45

PEANUT BUTTER VOL.4 by Cornnell Clarke begins. This issue also continues best-selling series KRISTINA, Kevin Taylor’s GIRL, OMAHA THE CAT DANCER, and other goodies!81/2 x 11, 64pp, black and white, magazine: $5.95

For further information, please contact our publicist, Marc Mason: [email protected].

Please send us clippings and links to your articles.

NBM In February: Back to the Louvre!Currently being solicited for arrival in comics shops in February, 2010

Lone Wolf 13 – Now Shipping!

Just to let you all know, the collector’s edition of Lone Wolf 13: The Plague Lords of Ruel is now shipping from Mongoose. We still have a few copies left, so if you do not have yours yet, now is the time to order!

You can find more details at http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1738

Matthew Sprange

Mongoose PublishingTel: +44 (0)1793 434488 Fax:+44 (0)1793 497999 Mob: +44 (0)7891 624298http://www.mongoosepublishing.com

http://www.WoWTCG.com





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World of Warcraft® Trading Card Game World Championships to be Held at Gen Con Indy 2010!

Upper Deck Partners with Gen Con Indy to bring the WoW TCG world championships and the world’s largest gaming convention together

Carlsbad, CA — Taking advantage of the buzz, popularity and outstanding attendance records of Gen Con Indy, the Upper Deck Company has decided to host its fourth annual World of Warcraft® Trading Card Game (TCG) World Championships this year to coincide with North America’s largest hobby gaming convention. Upper Deck’s 2010 World of Warcraft® TCG World Championships will be held alongside a Darkmoon Faire and many other Public Events at Gen Con Indy from August 5 though 8 at the Indianapolis Convention Center.

“Based on sheer volume alone, it became obvious to us that we should take our WoW Worlds competition to Gen Con,” said Ben Drago, Upper Deck’s marketing manager for Organized Play. “The exposure Gen Con Indy provides can’t be ignored. We’ve hosted our WoW TCG Continental Championships at Gen Con before so we know the venue is top-notch and the atmosphere is upbeat and competitive. It just makes sense for us to make this move.”

“Upper Deck has delivered epic and innovative gaming events to Gen Con for years. We are thrilled to have the World of Warcraft® Trading Card Game World Championship at Gen Con Indy 2010,” added Adrian Swartout, CEO of Gen Con LLC.

Last year’s World of Warcraft® TCG World Championships were held at the Austin (Texas) Convention Center from October 9 through 11 and attracted hundreds of qualified participants from 26 different countries. In the end, however, it was Darkmoon Faire Columbus winner Billy Postlethwait of Winter Park, Florida, who walked away with the top prize of $50,000.

For more information about the 2010 World of Warcraft® TCG World Championship Tournament, please visit www.WoWTCG.com. In addition, there will be a full Public Events schedule full of demos, games and competitions alike at Gen Con Indy for beginners as well as expert players.

About Upper Deck

Upper Deck is the leading sports and entertainment trading card and collectibles company. For more information on Upper Deck and its products please visit www.upperdeck.com.

Media Contact:Terry Melia, Public Relations Mgr., Upper [email protected]




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How We Make Games: The Boss Lays It Out

Last week, we asked for your ONE suggestion on how you'd improve Avalanche Press. Today the boss tackles one of many subjects you raised: how we make and sell new boxed games. We're still eagerly accepting your feedback, so let us know what you suggest we do to become even better in 2010.

Send your suggestion to us here.

January Clearance

The new year is bringing new games into our warehouse, so to help with that, we have some special prices on our older books and games. Take a look below and help us bring out lots of new stuff.

Boxed Games

Alamei• nRegular Price: $199.99Sale Price: $100Gold Club Price: $90

Austerlit• zRegular Price: $29.99Sale Price: $12Gold Club Price: $10.80

Great Pacific Wa• rRegular Price: $64.99Sale Price: $40Gold Club Price: $36

Great War at Sea: Cone of Fir• eRegular Price: $99.99Sale Price: $65

Gold Club Price: $58.50

Great War at Sea: Cruiser Warfar• eRegular Price: $49.99Sale Price: $25Gold Club Price: $22.50

Great War at Sea: Jutlan• dRegular Price: $64.99Sale Price: $45Gold Club Price: $40.50

Great War at Sea: Mediterranea• nRegular Price: $59.99Sale Price: $30Gold Club Price: $27

Great War at Sea: Navy Plan Gold• Regular Price: $59.99Sale Price: $30Gold Club Price: $27

Island of Death• Regular Price: $29.99Sale Price: $20Gold Club Price: $18

Panzer Grenadier: Afrika Korps• Regular Price: $64.99Sale Price: $30Gold Club Price: $27

Panzer Grenadier: Beyond Normandy• Regular Price: $64.99Sale Price: $30Gold Club Price: $27

Panzer Grenadier: Desert Rat• sRegular Price: $64.99Sale Price: $30Gold Club Price: $27

Panzer Grenadier: Road to Berlin• Regular Price: $74.99Sale Price: $40Gold Club Price: $36

News from Avalanche Press



















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Red God of War• Regular Price: $29.99Sale Price: $12Gold Club Price: $10.80

Red Russi• aRegular Price: $39.99Sale Price: $20Gold Club Price: $18

Rome at War: Hannibal at Bay• Regular Price: $19.99Sale Price: $12Gold Club Price: $10.80

Rome at War: Queen of the Celts (pinup box)• Regular Price: $39.99Sale Price: $20Gold Club Price: $18

Rome at War: Queen of the Celts (retail box)• Regular Price: $39.99Sale Price: $20Gold Club Price: $18

Second World War at Sea: Eastern Fleet• Regular Price: $44.99Sale Price: $25Gold Club Price: $22.50

Second World War at Sea: Midwa• yRegular Price: $59.99Sale Price: $30Gold Club Price: $27

Second World War at Sea: Strike Sout• hRegular Price: $59.99Sale Price: $30Gold Club Price: $27

Soldier King• sRegular Price: $39.99Sale Price: $25Gold Club Price: $22.50

Third Reic• hRegular Price: $64.99Sale Price: $40Gold Club Price: $36

Tiger of Malay• aRegular Price: $59.99Sale Price: $30Gold Club Price: $27

Supplements

Great War at Sea: Dreadnought• sRegular Price: $24.99Sale Price: $15Gold Club Price: $13.50

Great War at Sea: Sea of Trouble• sRegular Price: $24.99Sale Price: $15Gold Club Price: $13.50

Great War at Sea: Zeppelin• sRegular Price: $24.99Sale Price: $15Gold Club Price: $13.50

Panzer Grenadier: Iron Curtai• nRegular Price: $19.99Sale Price: $12Gold Club Price: $10.80

Panzer Grenadier: Jungle Fighting• Regular Price: $19.99Sale Price: $10Gold Club Price: $9

Panzer Grenadier: Secret Weapons• Regular Price: $24.99Sale Price: $15Gold Club Price: $13.50

Rumors of War• Regular Price: $24.99Sale Price: $15Gold Club Price: $13.50

Second World War at Sea: East of Suez• Regular Price: $24.99Sale Price: $15Gold Club Price: $13.50

Third Reich/Great Pacific War Player’s Guide• Regular Price: $24.99Sale Price: $10Gold Club Price: $9

Visit us soon at www.avalanchepress.com.





















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Mega-City One Archives – Free Previews

The streets of Mega-City One are a dark and violent place. In the 22nd Century the rules of society have broken down and a new order has arisen to take control. Enter the Judges – empowered to apprehend miscreants and sentence them on the spot. In a hard world, the Judges have to be harder still. It may be a brutal system but it is the only thing that works.

The Mega-City One Archives is a collection of lore related to the Justice Department and the citizens it protects – often from themselves. Volume I: The Justice Department is the start of an exciting new 12 volume series that examines the world of Judge Dredd as never before. Each volume contains a proof of purchase logo that, when all 12 are collected, can be exchanged for a special 13th volume, covering Judge Death and his allies, absolutely free!

Note: This is the only way to obtain the special 13th volume of the Mega-City One Archives. It will never go on sale!

You can now see previews of the first two volumes at http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpg/series.php?qsSeries=61

Matthew Sprange





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(MONTREAL) — Polymamcer® Studios has a few free offerings you should check out. The previous issue of the game industry newsletter Polyglot™, the most recent episodes of DiceCast™, and the complete

rules of the miniatures wargame PUMMEL!™ are all available for free download on Scribd. Details about each are below.

The previous issue of Polyglot™, Polymancer Studios’s (FREE to read • and FREE to use) game industry newsletter, is available on Scribd in the Polymancer area as Polyglot Volume 4 Issue 14. This issue is packed with all the latest news, latest releases, and other tidbits from companies across the hobby game industry and the computer/console game industry as well.

Remember that Polyglot is always free to • download, free to distribute, and free to post to. Subscriptions are available by sending an e-mail to [email protected]. Just say you want a subscription. It’s free.Any company that makes roleplaying • games, tabletop games, miniatures, miniatures games, wargames, boardgames, LARPs, comics, graphic novels, anime material, mangas, computer games, console games, game or hobby related blogs, or related products can send a press release, product announcement, or other news piece to [email protected]. This is free, and images are both welcomed and encouraged.Anyone with a well-written opinion about some • current aspect of the game or hobby industry is invited to send a guest editorial (500 to 1,000 words) to [email protected] with a well-written review about a game or hobby product • is invited to send a review (250 to 1,000 words) to [email protected].

DiceCast™ is Polymancer Studios’s official podcast. It is available at • dicecast.blogspot.com. (Subscriptions are available at the iTunes™ music store and by RSS.) The latest episodes include an overview of 2009 and a string of interviews with game industry luminaries.

The DiceCast Special Holiday Episode features a discussion about the late Dave Arneson, the recent fragmentation of the • D&D™ fan base, the revival of Wizkids™, and other important events from 2009. It is available at blogspot.com – Dicecast Special Holiday Episode.DiceCast Episode 7 is an interview with Adam Jury of Catalyst Labs. Mr. Jury offers some great tips about freelancing in • the hobby game industry, and what working for a game company is really like. It is available at blogspot.com – Dicecast Episode 7 – Adam Jury.DiceCast Episode 6 is an interview with Jess Hartley, a freelance writer known for her extensive work with White Wolf. Jess • Hartley’s anecdotes and musings give some insight into how a successful game writer works. It is available at blogspot.com – Dicecast Episode 6 – Jess Hartley.DiceCast Episode 5 is discussion of making props for a roleplaying game and LARPs. It is available at blogspot.com – • Dicecast Episode 5 – Making Props.

The Latest Free Downloads from Polymancer Studios

















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PUMMEL!™ Is a rules-light, fast-paced, but complete miniatures wargame. The acronym stands for “Pick-Up, Multigenre Miniatures, • Easy to Learn”. The quickstart rules are available at Scribd – PUMMEL!

These free offerings from Polymancer Studios are available now.

Additional releases this month

A new issue of Polygraff™, an anthology of short fiction in fantasy, sci-fi, horror, pulp, techno-thrillers and other imaginative genres will be in stores across North America later this month. This issue includes great short stories by many up and coming writers as well as an exclusive interview with the Gor series of novels creator John Norman.

A new issue of Polymancer magazine, Volume #2, Issue #10 is due out wordwide this month. This issue contains a full-length Anime-style adventure scenario, as well as a selection of great gaming related articles. There is a new column this month by the Mistress of Murder as well. You should check it out at your favorite gaming store, newsstand, bookstore, or contact us at www.polymancer.com

About Polymancer Studios, Inc.

Polymancer Studios Inc. is a full-service printer, independent publisher, layout and graphic design service provider whose Game and Hobby Division focuses on the game, hobby, and entertainment industries. Polymancer Studios’s includes amongst its products Polymancer® Magazine (gaming), Polygraff™ Magazine (fiction), the newsletter Polyglot™, Mojo™ the Infinitely Convertible™ roleplaying rules system, and PUMMEL!™, the Pick-Up, Multigenre Miniatures, Easy to Learn fast-paced generic miniatures game. Polymancer Studios also produces the DiceCast™ podcast.

Contacts

Polymancer® Studios, Inc. www.polymancerstudios.comEmail: [email protected] on MySpaceAddress: 20 Weredale Park, Westmount, Quebec H3Z 1Y6 (Canada)Tel: 514-667-1585Skype: polymancer

Mongoose Publishing Drivethru PDF Update

We have just finished a major reorganization of our PDFs on DrivethruRPG.com, making our titles far easier to find. Older lines, such as the original 2000AD, Paranoia and RuneQuest titles now have their own sections, separating them from the latest versions of these games and sparing any confusion!

We have also engaged in some minor updating of pricing and other details – you can see the results at;

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=45

Matthew Sprange










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News from FineScale Modeler

Free Online Extra! January Reader Gallery

Every month we publish a new gallery of reader-submitted photos at FineScale.com. The January photo gallery features 23 models, including Dragon’s SdKfz 234/1, Tamiya’s 1/72 scale Republic P-47D Thunderbolt, EVA Models’ 1/32 scale figure Bruce McCandless II, and much more.

You can submit digital photos – preferably high-resolution images – for the printed magazine’s Reader Gallery or online photo gallery at Contribute.Kalmbach.com. When you submit a photo of your model, please include the following information within the “Comments” box: manufacturer, model, scale, modifications, paint used, and your reason for choosing the model. You can even send us a Microsoft Word document describing your images.

Also, don’t forget to include your mailing address. If your picture is published in the magazine, we'll pay you between $35 and $60!

Submit your best photos to FSM today!

10 new reviews – plus more than 40 bonus photos!

FSM’s March issue goes on sale February 2, but subscribers can already read March’s 10 model kit reviews and check out more than 40 review-model photos not published in the magazine!

Evaluations include:

ICM 1/35 scale BM-13-16N Katyusha• Tamiya 1/32 scale Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX• Airfix 1/72 scale Supermarine Spitfire PR.XIX• Two scales: Trumpeter F-100C Super Sabres in 1/72 and 1/48 •

scaleMinicraft 1/144 scale E-3 Sentry AWACS• ICM 1/72 scale Type XXVIIB “Seehund”• Xtrakit 1/72 scale Supermarine Scimitar F.1• Valom 1/72 scale Bristol Brigand B.Mk.1• Trumpeter 1/35 scale T-62 Mod. 1962•

Subscribe and enjoy March’s model kit reviews today!

February 2010 issue on sale now!

The February issue of FineScale Modeler is on newsstands now. It features seven Workbench Reviews, as well as essential feature stories:

Airbrushing & • Finishing: Weathering powdersShowcase special: • Missile destroyer OtlichnyyDetailing a • Wild WeaselTackling Tamiya’s • titanic Tiger IIAnd much more!•

Watch the video issue preview and see the table of contents.










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Privateer Press Announces Monsterpocalypse Series 5: Big In Japan

Bellevue, WA — Privateer Press is proud to announce that the next expansion for its collectible miniatures game Monsterpocalypse will be released April 2010. The expansion, Series 5: Big in Japan, takes the monsters and minions of Monsterpocalypse to the heart of Japan with new iconic buildings from the Tokyo skyline. Big in Japan will be available in Monster Boosters and Unit Boosters.

To celebrate the release of Big in Japan, Privateer Press is offering two special promotions to retailers and players. Players can get a limited edition Mega Mechathugrosh figure free from participating retailers by ordering the Big in Japan Mega Kit (PIP 50915). The kit includes one case of Big in Japan Monster Boosters, one case of Big in Japan Unit Boosters, and one Mega Mechathugrosh figure.

The second promotion is available to retailers who order the Big in Japan Launch Kit (PIP 50916). The kit includes six of the Big in Japan Mega Kits and two free limited edition Mega White Dajan figures for the retailer to use in supporting the launch of Big in Japan. Both the Big in Japan Mega Kit and the Big in Japan Launch Kit are limited, and players and retailers are encouraged to pre-order so as not to miss out on these special offers.

For the latest news and information on Monsterpocalypse visit www.monsterpocalypse.com.

About the Monsterpocalypse Collectible Miniatures Game

The collectible miniatures game (CMG) Monsterpocalypse brings the giant-monster genre—a pop culture favorite—to the tabletop in the form of a fast-paced, action-packed game. Designed by Matt Wilson, the award-winning creator of WARMACHINE and HORDES, Monsterpocalypse leverages the critically acclaimed abilities of Privateer Press as a leading miniatures manufacturer to enter a new category of product with a property that appeals to a worldwide fan base of all ages. Players can visit www.monsterpocalypse.com for game previews and updates.

About Privateer Press, Inc.

Privateer Press, inc. is a privately held producer of entertainment and hobby brands based in the Seattle area. Its products include the Monsterpocalypse collectible miniatures game, the award-winning WARMACHINE and HORDES hobby miniatures games, the award-winning Iron Kingdoms property, Bodger Games, the full-color No Quarter Magazine, and the Formula P3 hobby line. To learn more about Privateer Press, visit www.privateerpress.com or contact the president, Sherry Yeary, at (425) 643-5900 or [email protected].




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Mongoose Publishing: New Books Just Arrived!

We have just had a big delivery of books at our UK office today, with many new and scrumptious titles!RuneQuest II, in all its leatherbound goodness is in, along with Bounties & Warrants (for Strontium Dog fans) and the

first of the Mega-City One Archives, covering the Justice Department – if you are keen on Judge Dredd, you don’t want to miss this book, as it looks gorgeous.

All three books are on their way to stores right now but if you pre-ordered any of these tiles from us, they are already on their way to you – if you are in the UK, weather permitting, you should see them by the weekend!

Matthew Sprange



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Register for ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards

ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards were established to bring increased attention to librarians and booksellers of the literary and graphic achievements of independent publishers and their authors. ForeWord is the only review trade journal devoted exclusively to books from independent houses.

ForeWord Magazine’s unique awards process brings readers, librarians, and booksellers together to select their top categories as well as choose the winning titles. Their decisions are based on editorial excellence, professional production, originality of the narrative, author credentials relative to the book, and the value the book adds to its genre.

If your books expand a reader’s world, introduce a voice society needs to hear, offer practical knowledge where none existed before, or simply entertain so compellingly that all distractions fall away, they should be submitted for the Book of the Year Award.

FEATURING: Editor’s Choice Prize:

BEST FICTION – $1,500• BEST NONFICTION – $1,500•

2009 Award winners will be announced at the 2010 BookExpo America in New York City

BOOK OF THE YEAR GUIDELINES (PDF file 28k)

DEADLINE: January 15, 2010

Entry Fee: $75 per title, per category. Submit TWO copies of each book per category.

Publishers are urged to submit their entries as soon as possible but postmarked no later than January 15, 2010. Two books for each entry must be accompanied by a ForeWord Connections Receipt and sent to:

Book of the Year AwardsForeWord Magazine129 1/2 E. Front Street, Ste. CTraverse City, MI 49684

For more information, visit www.bookoftheyearawards.com



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New reviews from OneBookshelf.comGames & Comics

If you are already a fan of the Supernatural TV show and want to play out the kind of adventures that happen to its protagonists, this book will come as a real treat. If you don’t know the show, or are just looking for a game in which present-day heroes deal with supernatural menaces, this probably is not the game for you.

Written throughout in a casual style (almost as if written by Dean Winchester) and laid out in full color with lots of (un-captioned, alas, and rather dark) shots from the show as well as evocative collections of items that might rest on a hunter’s desk, the work begins with an Introduction by Sara Gamble, one of the show’s writers. Clearly, she'd quite like to join in, and it ought to get you into the right mood for this game from the outset.

Then the book jumps right in with Chapter 1: Be Afraid of the Dark. This is a wide-ranging chapter that covers the underlying concept of the game, the mood of the show which you’ll be trying to recreate, and setting the scene of an elite group of ‘hunters’ who deal with menaces that most ordinary folk do not even believe exist outside of legends and stories. There’s an overview of the sorts of nasty things these hunters will face – as well as other hassles such as local law enforcement, lack of a reliable income (if full time hunters) and the effect of their lifestyle on family and friends. Assuming you want to run your game in Continental America, there’s an overview of some of the likely places supernatural menaces are to be found… this covers virtually every bit of the United States so whatever locale you fancy there ought to be something for you.

Next, Chapter 2: The Basics covers just that – the basics of the Cortex rule system – certainly in enough detail to play the game. Aspiring referees (and players wanting to use the rules to their full effect) will find a lot more detail in Chapter 6: The Rules. And that’s another good thing about this book, you are constantly directed to what it will be useful to read next, depending on your needs at the time. Starting with a brief explanation of what role-playing is and the role of player and game master, it moves on to introduce the dice used in the Cortex System and the way in which the capabilities of a character (or monster) are described and used from a game mechanics point of view – and all with reference to where you put it on the character sheet. There is even sufficient detail for you to understand what is going on during a combat or other mechanics-heavy moment in the game.

The basics explained, on to Chapter 3: The Hunters, which gets down to the detail of actually creating your character ready to play. Everything is based around your concept for a character, with a point-build system to allow you to set him up just as you please. And if you prefer to play one of the Winchester boys or one or two other major characters from the show, they are presented in full detail. An interesting feature is Traits – which come as Assets or Complications. They confer modifiers in appropriate situations, but Complications can (if well role-played) also gain the player Plot Points – freely usable bonuses to die rolls at a time of your choosing. The chapter rounds out with the advancement system.

Chapter 4 looks at Traits and Skills – basically explaining what is available and how to use them in game mechanic terms, then character creation is completed with a trip to the store, or at least Chapter 5: The Gear. This is quite abstracted, both in terms of detail (if you want to describe your weapons in loving terms, fine, but here you get generic statistics for each type!) and cost as a ‘lifestyle’ system is used to abstract the sort of thing that you can afford based on background and status – while you can get prices from a store and work out wages, cash in hand, etc.; accountancy is not what this game is about so you

Supernatural Role Playing Gameby Margaret Weis Productionshttp://comics.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=62273&it=1&SRC=polyglotPrice: $29.99Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (from Megan Robertson)




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don’t need to track every last cent unless you really want to do so!Characters done, Chapter 6: Rules provides all the detail that the game master – or most avid rules-lawyer – could need

to enable the game to run smoothly, logically and fairly. Suitably given the subject matter, there is a cinematic feel and GMs are advised that excessive die-rolling can spoil the flow of the game, and to require rolls only when there is a definite need to allow for an element of chance. However, when the need arises for rules mechanics, these are explained clearly with plenty of options to enable you to tailor them to the precise circumstances in your game. The theme of Plot Points is expanded with suggestions as to how players can use them not just to enhance a roll but to create favorable circumstances, like finding precisely the right weapon to deal with a given monster just lurking forgotten at the bottom of your bag. Plenty of detail is given to the mechanics of combat and chases as well, also all-important information on getting injured and recovering from the damage. Considering the nature of adversaries, attention is also paid to the characters’ mental state with rules for getting scared or even losing your grip in the face of Things That Should Not Exist…

Chapter 7 is entitled – and aimed at – The Game Master. There’s nothing game-destroying should a mere player read here, more just things that are more appropriate for a GMs use. Things like actually running games, pacing, levels of control to exert, even how to deal with rules lawyers (a gem: “This is one of the few times after pre-school when ‘because I said so’ is still a valid response!") Creating the right atmosphere and tone is also covered, as well as preparing adventures, realizing that different GMs work best with differing balances between pre-planning and scripting everything and running the entire adventure free form off the top of your head. The overall setting – horror in contemporary America – is already chosen for you, but there are lot of options within the broad theme as to how you wish to address it in your game. For example, are the characters footloose wanderers seeking out monsters to hunt, or have the monsters chosen to come visit them in their home town! and they have to step up to defend all that they hold dear? However much you prepare, there are some useful thoughts about how an individual adventure should be organized to best effect (quite useful general advice, and certainly apposite to the sort of adventures you'd run for this game).

Chapter 9: The Supernatural is an overview of some of the commoner types of adversaries that the characters might encounter in their hunt. As the authors admit, you'd need a whole library to cover the myths around even a few of the most well-known monsters; and so the emphasis here is on how to use monsters within your game rather than bare facts (except of course example game statistics) about them – both Game Master and players will do well to undertake their own research into what the legends say. Information sources, especially those available in-game to the characters, are well explored. There’s a good section on how the characters can apply various skills to their search for information. The details given about the monsters themselves are vague enough that players can safely read most them, although perhaps unless they can justify their characters having a pre-existing interest before the game begins, even this may be more than ‘ordinary’ people, the ones who don’t credit the existence of such beasts, would know. There are some examples given that are best left to the GM.

Finally, Chapter 9: The Mundane looks at everything else the characters will encounter, in main a series of locations and the sort of people likely to be found there. There are also some of the more likely wild animals – such as bears and cougars – that might cause confusion to a hunter who sees the supernatural behind every attack. The overriding feel is ’small-town America’ and even to one who has never been there it’s beginning to come to life in my mind as backdrop to the adventures. An Appendix gives some ‘Hunter Jargon’ – and the recipe for a drink called a Purple Nurple! There’s also some suggest background music, then the Index and a character sheet rounds the whole thing off.

If you enjoy the TV show and want a game specifically tailored to its nuances, this is for you. It is presented beautifully and atmospherically, and should empower you to recreate the show in your game. It could even spread to wider, but similar, themes – say you wanted an X-Files or Warehouse 13 themed-game.

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I really enjoyed Robert Heske’s last anthology “Bone Chiller,” and his latest collection tackles a subject I find very interesting: the predicted end of the world. “2012: Final Prayer” is an anthology that offers a variety of perspectives on 12-21-12, the day the Mayan calendar ends and the apocalypse supposedly occurs.

Over a dozen stories by different writers and artists look at different aspects of the end of the world. Chris McJunkin’s “Final

Choices” explores the idea that when the world comes to an end, everyone will experience it differently. Jim Alexander and Andrew Dodd’s “Manchester” follows a man whose last day on earth turns out to be his happiest. Dino Caruso’s “Hollow Victory” sees scientists send a man into the future to see if the apocalypse really occurs. He finds that it has, and ironically his beloved Chicago Cubs won the world series right before the world ended.

My favorite of the bunch though is Arno Hurter and David Edwards’ “Bird’s Eye View.” The story follows Capitan Gregory Burke, a US astronaut that happens to be in orbit aboard a space shuttle when 12-21-12 hits. Not only does he watch the end of the world from afar, he finds out that the planet was merely a vessel, an incubator for something that is finally ready to hatch. He records his final moments as a record of the last day of humanity.

With “2012: Final Prayer,” Robert Heske has again pulled together an interesting collection of stories from a variety of creative teams. The anthology is well worth checking out if you have an interest in the end times.

2012: Final Prayerby Heske Horrorhttp://comics.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=65626&it=1&SRC=polyglotPrice: $15.00 $4.99Rating: 4 out! of 5 stars (from Brian LeTendre)from www.secretidentitypodcast.com

Author Jason Becker and artist Jon Rea have collaborated to create Killing Pickman, a modern noire tale wrapped around serial child murder and Satanism. And honestly, it warms my heart, but please keep that between you and me.

Issue 1 starts with Detective Bill Zsu canvassing the neighborhood in which multiple children have disappeared. When he knocks on Dick Pickman’s door the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. After calling for back up a showdown ensues the results of which are six new holes in Pickman, the discovery of satanic hobbies undertaken by the aforementioned Mr. Pickman, and a tunnel in which more child

victims are discovered alive. Pickman goes to the hospital and Detective Zsu goes a little crazy working the psychopath beat. Little does he know that he’s only scratched the surface of the depravity he’s just uncovered.

Becker’s story is fast-paced and streamlined. Where other stories get stuck in the mud while we all drown in exposition Becker kicks us in the ass, shoving us through the door of the loony bin. Conceptually and tonally, Killing Pickman is similar to comics such as Sin City and Arkham Asylum, as well as films including The Silence of the Lambs and Se7en.

Jon Rea’s artwork is bleak and fragmented embodying the dark themes of the story and the psychopathic nature of our antagonist. He uses charcoals, blues, blacks, grays and browns to saturate the pages with a noire palette. Fans of primary colors should keep a safe distance. Rea’s style is reminiscent of Frank Miller’s seminal Dark Knight masterpiece as well as Dave Mckean’s innovative and disturbing work from the early 90’s. There are moments when the action is obscured by the artistic style, but never for too long and never to the detriment of the book’s appeal.

Killing Pickman is fantastic. If you like your Satanism hardboiled and your child murder mysterious then this book is for you. Looking forward to issue 2.

Killing Pickman #1by Archaia Studio Presshttp://comics.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=54752&it=1&SRC=polyglotPrice: $3.50 $0.99Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (from Jason Thorson)








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The product description captures this track well. The “dark and ambient intro and outro” is basically non-melodic, and would do a good job of setting a creepy atmosphere. The “full-on metal guitars, bass, and drums” that occupy most of the track are skillfully enough composed and performed, but I think they might prove quite distracting at the gaming table. I like the track, but I generally prefer my gaming-table music more ambient and less intrusive.

Scarecrows vs. Werewolvesby Bailey Recordshttp://comics.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=69103&it=1&SRC=polyglotPrice: $0.99Rating: 3 out of 5 stars (from Christopher Heard)

This virtual box set consists of the Players Guide, Game Masters Guide, and a map of the campaign setting. Both books are 66 pages and cover everything you need to know to get started roleplaying in the Dragon Age setting. Both the Players Guide and Game Master’s Guide have excellent indexes, though neither

has a table of contents. They are well laid out, with clear legible font and bold headings that make it easy to find information. As PDF documents they are easy to read, but they are full color with tons of beautiful art (often covering more than half a page) which will put real pressure on your printer! Both documents are bookmarked, but that is the extent of the PDF technology used (no hyperlinks in the index or the like).

The moment I began reading the Player’s Guide I was overcome with a sense of nostalgia, finding within the virtual covers the kind of game I have been hoping for. The Dragon Age RPG reminds me of the simple games that I first learnt to roleplay with, without any of the odd, redundant or strange mechanisms that the infancy of roleplaying was sometimes afflicted with. I am looking forward to running my twelve-year-old nephews through their first adventure these holidays, and they will be doing it in the Dragon Age.

Dragon Age RPG, Set 1by Green Roninhttp://comics.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=68991&it=1&SRC=polyglotPrice: $17.50Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (from Nathan Russell)

There’s little doubt that the release of the new Assassin Creed II video game has inspired quite a few character concepts amongst roleplayers over the world. d20 OGL classes like the Assassin, Shadowdancer and Rogue are likely getting increased attention from those keen to follow in the exploits of the video game’s characters. For those playing the Pathfinder RPG, The Genius Guide to the Shadow Assassin offers a good option to explore if you want something along those

lines or just want something that’s a little different to the norm.The Genius Guide to the Shadow Assassin is a short 9 page pdf product, and

the second product (of three on the date of this review) in a series of character-aimed books presenting new and hopefully unique classes, templates, spells, and magic items. This particular product presents the Shadow Assassin, a new 20 level core class for the Pathfinder RPG. The product is written by the well known Owen K.C. Stephens.

The Genius Guide to the Shadow Assassinby OtherWorld Creationshttp://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=68890&it=1&SRC=polyglotPrice: $1.99Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (from Peter Ingham)










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This product is very neatly and professionally presented, with good use of new artwork and the occasional stock art piece. Writing and editing is good, and the layout is in the less common three-column format. This makes the text a little crowded on the page and more difficult to read, but that’s largely a minor point. It still baffles me a little why publishers are unwilling to add a few extra pages to improve layout and readability. Overall, though, this is a very well presented product, with a high standard of execution and presentation.

The Shadow Assassin core class is built on stealth, deadly attacks against single opponents and fighting with light (easy to conceal) weapons. It blends parts and aspects of the Assassin and Shadowdancer prestige classes from the d20 OGL, while adding a touch of its own flavor essentially modifying the core abilities to suit the class. So the Hide in Plain Sight Shadowdancer features is present in an alternative form where it grants various bonuses to Stealth at low levels, while at higher levels the class can turn into living shadow or travel via shadows. The Deadly Focus ability is similar to the Assassin Death Attack, but much more streamlined, evolved, and easier to implement and use. In essence, the Shadow Assassin takes known abilities and makes them more playable as it combines them into the class. I really appreciated the level based development of all the class features, as you can see the difference between a higher level Shadow Assassin and a lower level one by their execution of signature abilities.

The class also incorporates some of the Rogue class abilities like Evasion and Uncanny Dodge, and includes useful weapon fighting styles to highlight the classes skill with specific weapons. Very useful advice is provided on how to use this class as both an NPC and PC class, paying particular attention to the fact that this class doesn’t have to be evil like the Assassin. Overall, a solid mechanical base, making a workable and easy to understand/use class with none of the Hide in Plain Sight issues that the Shadowdancer had. In one sense I'd have preferred the Shadow Assassin’s abilities to the Hide in Plain Sight class features as it’s much simpler and in a way more elegant.

Overall, while the Shadow Assassin class is not the most unique implementation I've ever seen, it does have good mechanics and elegant use of mechanics to build an interesting and more importantly playable class. The product is well worth a look at for those fans of Pathfinder that are looking for a darker class to play that has some good potential for both roleplaying and combat. Good class and a good product.

Class Options Volume II – Paladins Prevail is a short 11 page pdf of paladin options for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. This product is from Gun Metal Games, formerly Reality Deviant Publications, and is the second in a line of products offering new and expanded class options for the classes in the Pathfinder RPG. Class options, as the name suggests, are alternatives to existing class features, and allow one to alter or customize the flavor and mechanics of the class to better suit the players’ concept of their characters. This product is written by Stefen Styrsky.

The product comes as a beautifully presented single pdf file. Cover and

interior artwork is excellently provided by the talents of Jason Walton, while David Jarvis has done a good job of handling the design and layout of the product. It’s pleasing to see such high production values in short PDFs – it indicates that the authors and publishers are committed to the industry and their customers/fans. Writing and editing is good as well, and I was generally pleased with all the new mechanics and the power levels the mechanics contained. Overall, a very pleasing pdf and neatly presented.

Paladins Prevail is about options, and in the pages of this product you’ll find scores of new and useful options to enhance or customize your paladin character. Most of the options take the form of alternative class features, but the product also presents a large number of useful feats that build on these features or offer further customization. There’s pretty much an alternative option for every paladin class feature, all presented in order of their level. I guess here is one of the few weaknesses of this product in that a table summarizing these alternative class features and the features they replace would've been really useful. All the alternative class features offer a different take on the paladin’s mind and role, and the product very helpfully defines

Class options volume II: Paladins Prevail!by Gun Metal Gameshttp://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=69014&it=1&SRC=polyglotPrice: $2.50Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (from Peter Ingham)




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some of these roles with suggested class features. Roles such as Avenger, Champion, and Defender are explored within the scope of the alternative class features presented.

The class features themselves are generally just like-for-like alternatives to existing paladin features. So, for example, the Mercy class features can be replaced by several different options, including Justice, Sacrifices or Sword Rites, each offering to build a paladin with a different purpose and outlook. Aura of Resolve can be replaced by Aura of Radiance or Aura of Watchfulness and so on, offering a plethora of different options. Naturally certain options fit better together than others do, but that’s nicely covered by the suggestions offered for paladin roles. It would've been nice to see more roles explored though, as the ones chosen are somewhat stereotypical. Something off the beaten track would've been good to see. The whole approach is very modular, which makes it easy to implement and easy to use.

I have to admit that I was pleased with this product. If you're interested in building an alternative paladin or simple don’t believe the existing class features fit the concept you have in mind, this product might offer what you're looking for. I also don’t believe I've seen similar class features to these before in other products under a different name, so in that sense it’s an unique offering. As I said before, something off the beaten track would've been nice, but at least providing options and alternatives is an excellent way to offer customization to players and DMs alike. Good product with good production values and loads of useful advice. This product can easily become a much used product for paladin characters at the gaming table.

All too often, religion is relegated to being the province of divine spellcasting characters only, with everyone else usually not even bothering to scribble down the name of a patron deity on their character sheet. Naturally, this eschews quite a few avenues for truly role-playing the character, as one needn’t be a cleric (or ranger, druid, or what-have-you) to be religious. It’s this point that Jon Brazer Enterprises’ Pathfinder supplement, Book of the Faithful: Power of Prayer, focuses on.

A short book, Power of Prayer is only seven pages long, including the cover and credits/legal page. Despite that, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the product had extensive bookmarks to every heading, with some even being nested – nice bit of extra service there in such a brief PDF. The book also has more artwork than I would have thought; besides the full color cover, there

are two interior black and white illustrations, and each page has a large (perhaps slightly too large) border on the bottom. Still, I enjoyed the manner in which the book displayed itself – it could have gotten away with no interior artwork simply due to its brevity, but held itself to a higher standard.

The book opens with examples of prayers from different people, illustrating the point of the ubiquity of faith (at least in a fantasy world). This opens section on religion and role-playing, talking about how and why a non-clerical character would have a religious bent, followed by several archetypes that such a character could follow (e.g. a convert, an evangelist, etc).

It’s only after this that the book moves on to new mechanics. It introduces the idea of prayer feats – prayer feats are, from an in-game standpoint, feats that are given by a god to a faithful follower as a reward for their devotion. Each of the seventeen feats here thusly has a requirement that you worship a god with a particular domain, and grants a bonus thematically related to that domain. What I enjoyed most about this section was how it noted that a prayer feat’s effect is activated by the PLAYER just like any other feat, but the CHARACTER isn’t the one manifesting that power – it’s being activated by the whim of the deity directly. Very cool.

The book closes with a single magic item, an enchanted holy symbol that grants a small bonus to saving throws for a brief time, and three non-magical books that discuss a given religion. The inclusion of these latter items may seem slightly odd, given that they have no particular mechanical impact of any kind, but I think they add a nice (albeit minor) bit of dressing to the campaign world, and I suspect that was the intent in adding them.

Overall, Book of the Faithful: Power of Prayer does a fair job in pushing non-clerical characters to adopt a more religious tone. Taking the dual-pronged approach of highlighting it as good role-playing, and offering new mechanics to make it more appealing in terms of crunch, it offers some nice ideas and incentives for characters to be a little more pious, no matter what their class is. Pick this book up and put a little more power in your character’s prayers next game.

Book of the Faithful: Power of Prayerby Jon Brazer Enterpriseshttp://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=65652&it=1&SRC=polyglotPrice: $1.99Rating: 5 out of 5 stars (from Shane O'Connor)




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If you're a Savage Worlds fan, you need it.If you're looking for a supers game that’s less crunchy than

HERO or Mutants & Masterminds, try Savage Worlds.Basically, everything positive about Savage Worlds – ease of

prep, speed of play – but with expanded supers rules.

Savage Worlds Super Powers Companionby Pinnacle Entertainmenthttp://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=69994&it=1&SRC=polyglotPrice: $14.99Rating: 5 out of 5 stars (from Berin Kinsman)

News from Dark Sword Miniatures – Happy New Year – 5 New Greens Posted

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a fun-filled and safe holiday season on the travel front.

We have five new greens we posted up over the past 7 days.

First up we have three new greens from Mr. Jeff Grace (with pictures of three more coming very soon).

Elmore Masterworks Female Dual Wield Fighter1. Easley Masterworks Female Mage2. Easley Masterworks Male Mage3.

Next up we have two more Frogs from Mr. Dave Summers. These are two of my favorite Frogs to date. Dave is really in a Froggie Groove.

Frog Wizard (my favorite Frog to date)1. Frog Master of the Hunt (check out what he uses instead of 2. a Falcon).

2009 was a very productive year for Dark Sword with 51 new sculpts completed and put into our pipeline for release (almost all were released in 2009), and 2010 is looking to be even more productive.

2010 will see the launch of an all new even more streamlined Web site. Our Online Store has been in need of a massive overhaul for a good year now. But rather than just that, we are going to revamp the entire site, so stay tuned…

2010 will see lots of action on the GRRM Masterworks front as we move to get all of the coolest characters sculpted up. Tom Meier will be gearing up with new sculpts in late January. Samwell and Eddard are up next from Mr. Meier. We will have Jeff sculpt up Euron Grejoy and some more Wildling Characters in March. Jeff is focused on our VIF and Easley

Masterworks lines right now with the occasional Elmore Masterworks piece. Dave Summers and Jason Wiebe will be expanding our Frog/Critter lines with some really fun new pieces. Lots of stuff going already with our set team of world-class sculptors along with some up-coming appearances from an occasional guest sculptor as time permits.

Gen Con Indy 2010 will see really strong prize support from Dark Sword once again, so get your paint brushes out and start working on those entries for the painting contest. Can Zach be dethroned this year? He is the first male to win Dark Sword Best in Show since we started way back when… ahh the memories of Dark Sword’s first Gen Con with our first two boxed sets and a special edition mini….13 miniatures in total for sale and now we have over 250 miniatures for sale in our lines. My how time flies…

We finished Legend of the Seeker on DVD (loved it). We also just finished Castle Season 1, The Tudors Season

3, and Rescue Me Season 5.2 on DVD (loved them, but The Tudors Season 3 with only 8 episodes was a bit of a let-down).

Up next – we start Trueblood Season 1 on DVD. On the reading front: I am reading The Order of the

Stick’s latest compilation right now and enjoying it. After that, I am diving into GRRM A Song of Ice and Fire Book 2 (re-reading).

I want to wish everyone a very fun-filled and successful 2010 with your careers, your families and your friends. On a personal level, this new year holds a great deal of promise for me and my family. I hope it does for you as well. And remember, Dark Sword will be here when you need to take a break from the daily grind and enjoy the little miniature works of art in your collections and on our site.

Warm Regards,

Jim, www.DarkSwordMiniatures.com


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Tips from About.com

Web design

Learn CSS Margins for Better LayoutThe CSS box model is confusing and there are several

parts to it. CSS margins are an important part, because they define the space around your elements. Using margins you can separate disparate elements or overlap elements on your Web page.

CSS Float Helps Keep Important Content FirstWhen you use CSS float for your layouts, you can build

a standard HTML template for your pages and then create multiple layouts just by changing the CSS. The important content stays at the top of the HTML file, and the layout is whatever you want it to be. This article will help you understand how to use CSS float to create flexible width layouts in 1-, 2-, and 3-column designs, without changing the HTML at all.

Two Ways to Make Google Analytics Work for YouIt is so easy to set up Google analytics, but once you’ve

got it set up then what? I know a lot of Web designers who look at their analytics daily, but when asked what they do with that data, they just shrug. We all know that it’s good information, but how do you use it? Here are two ways to use specific analytics that are found in Google analytics to get more information about your site and improve your site.

Layout and Design

Do You Need Your Address on Your Business Card?This question was asked in one of our Business Card

Reader Submissions. I say that under certain circumstances, it’s not necessary. What do you say?

Where Do You Get Your Free Fonts?Is there some site that you go back to again and again

looking for free fonts? Tell us about. Nominate your favorite free font resources for the 2010 About.com Reader’s Choice Awards.

Where Do You Buy Your Fonts?We’ve got a nomination in for Fonts.com. Do you agree?

If so, nominate them yourselves and tell us what you like. If there’s somewhere else that you feel deserves a Reader’s Choice nomination, tell us.

Business

Lessons Learned from Small Businesses that Died this YearThe New York Times has a sad story on seven small

businesses that shut their doors in 2009. The owners were brave enough to talk about what went wrong and… Read more

Woo-Hoo! 5 Business Lessons From The SimpsonsThe Simpsons represents an American cultural icon and

is “the greatest television show of the 20th century,” according to Time Magazine. Homer and cast also provide a multitude of business lessons for any entrepreneur. Here are five good and bad business lessons for your enjoyment and education.

Business Secrets of Homer SimpsonHomer J. Simpson is not only a nuclear technician, but

also an entrepreneur, an inventor and an industrialist. He has attempted several times to go into business for himself. He has failed more than once. But his ignorant bliss is never diminished. In this feature, Ed Martin, a small business owner, analyzes Homer’s business ventures and offers all of us some words of wisdom.

Small Businesses Share Survival Tips for 2010The Los Angeles Times reports that many small business

owners aren’t sitting idly by hoping for the economic recover to save them. They’re saving themselves through innovation. One bookstore owner… Read more

Top 5 Small Business Trends of the DecadeIf I were to pick one word to encapsulate the last decade,

that word would be change. Just like everyone else, small businesses have gone through a lot of it in the last ten years. Looking back, these are what I think are the five most important small business trends of the last decade, the most important because they are trends that small businesses today can continue to profit from.

5 Key Lessons for Succeeding in an Online BusinessTo the tens of thousands of potential entrepreneurs

interested in starting an online business, there are lessons aplenty to be learned from Paperlesspost.com. The roughly one-year-old New York-based company allows consumers… Read more



















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Signs & Portents 76 – Ready to Download

We are kicking off 2010 in a big way with a brand new issue of Signs & Portents, packed full of gaming goodness. You can download a copy from;

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/series.php?qsSeries=13

In this month’s issue

Deus Vult: An introduction to the new supernatural • thriller for RuneQuest II.Glorantha: A detailed look at the gods of the • goblins.Conan: Introducing pirecing magic, a new way of • sorcery found in the dark corners of any kingdom of the Hyborian Age.Traveller: A consideration of fuel efficiency in • Traveller.Lone Wolf: Uncovering the city of Holmgard.• Conan: Dead Eyes, a complete scenario for 6• th to 8th level characters.Strontium Dog: More new mutations than you • can shake a dead rat at!Judge Dredd: A new selection of street encounters • to liven up your current investigations.Traveller: The Berserker and the Duellist, two new • ‘advanced[’ careers for Traveller characters.Babylon 5: The final installment of the epic Legacy • of War campaign – we told you we would get to the end eventually!

Matthew Sprange




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Northeast TITAN Championship

Lately there has been renewed interest in the Avalon Hill classic, TITAN. The buzz is mostly due to the recent reprint, with new artwork, by Valley Games. So we decided this would be a great time for The Schenectady Wargamers Association to hold its first ever TITAN tournament!

WhenThe tournament will take place over multiple days in

March 2010. You may participate on just one day or all of the days. They will be March 12th, 13th, 14th, 26th, 27th, 28th, and the semi-finals and finals will take place on April 10th. We created the schedule to give as many people as possible the opportunity to participate. On each of the tournament days, except Fridays, there will be multiple start times for games.

WhereIn the Albany New York area at The Studio of Bridge

and Games / Price Chopper Community Room, 1639 Eastern Parkway, Schenectady, NY 12309. www.swa-gaming.org/studiodirections

All level players

Although it is a tournament, the most important thing is that we all get together to have fun and play Titan. So even if you don’t intend on competing and just want to come by to play one or two games, we encourage you to attend. The tournament will be designed so that all level TITAN players may participate. Beginners and novice players are encouraged to attend. The rules of the game will not be taught, but tournament GMs will be available to answer any rules questions and/or disputes. And we will run a demo or two at the February 13th Game-a-thon.

Are you planning to attend? Let us know.

Since this is our first time running this, we would like to get a rough idea how many people will be participating in the event. So even if you are only planning on playing in one game, please send an email to [email protected] and let us know you are playing. Or even if you can’t attend this year but would like to participate if we run the event again, let us know that too.

The Rules

In addition to any tournament rules explained below, we will be adhering to Bruno Wolff ’s Titan Errata and Clarifications (including the Etiquette guide) found here http://wolff.to/titan/errata.html . Printed copies of this will be available for

reference during the tournament.It should be noted that the format for this tournament

is based on the World Boardgaming Championships’ Titan Tournament run by Bruno Wolff and some of these rules are directly quoted with permission. We have made some changes, the most significant being the time limit on preliminary and semi-final games.

Preliminary RoundsThere will be multiple stages to the tournament. The first

stage will be the preliminary rounds. They will take place on:

Friday, March 12• th, 6:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.Saturday, March 13• th, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 Midnight+ (S.W.A. Game-a-thon day)Sunday, March 14• th starting at 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 MidnightFriday, March 26• th, 6:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.Saturday, March 27• th, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 Midnight+Sunday, March 28• th, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 Midnight

Players will be able to play in as many or as few preliminary games as they like. Only a player’s first 6 games will count towards determining advancement into final rounds. Preliminary games will be 4-player when possible, 3-player or 5-players if the number of available players necessitates it.

Prelim games will be made up randomly from the available pool of players at the specified start times. Except that, where possible, we will attempt to separate people who have already played each other in the event. There are no guarantees, but we will try to give people a chance to play against a variety of opponents.

Semis and Final RoundsApril 10• th (S.W.A. Game-a-thon day)Semis 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. with time limit• Finals starting at 5:00 p.m. no time limit•

Players with the most wins (see tie-breakers) in the preliminary games will advance into the semi-final round. The number of players in the semi-final round will depend on the number of participants. If there 20 or under players, there will be no semi-final games and the top six players will advance directly to a final 6-player game. With 21-30 players, there will be four 3-player semi-final games with the winners advancing to a 4-player final. With 31+ players there will be four 4-player semi-final games with the winners advancing to a 4-player final.

Unless there is a 6-player final, only the four semifinal winners will be allowed to participate in the finals. If there is a no show, no fill-in will be used.






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Start Times / Time LimitsPreliminary and semi-final games will have a 7 hour

time limit. Start times for Preliminary games will be 6:00 PM Fridays, and 9:00AM, 1:00PM, and 5:00PM on weekends. That will guarantee that players will have a chance to play at least 2 games per day on the Saturday and Sundays, and players eliminated early won’t have to wait as long to start their next game. We may decide to start a game at a time other than the designated start times if we have enough available players and the next start time is still a ways off.

Hopefully most 4-player games will be over before the time limit. But unless all remaining players agree to keep playing, prelim games will end roughly when the 7-hour time limit is reached. All players should receive the same number of turns. Players should be conscious of the time limit so a new turn should not be started if it is likely to cause the game to go over the time limit. In many games the likely winners will be clear and players can simply record the agreed upon winners. If it is unclear or there is any disagreement, winners of games that end due to time limit will be determined by adding the following:

a player’s points scored from battles;• double the number of points in a player’s Titan legion• the number of points in the player’s strongest legion besides • its Titan legionand an additional 100 points if the player has Titan teleport.•

Tiebreakers The qualifying tiebreakers for advancement in order are

firsts, seconds, thirds, fourths, titan kills, opponents’ firsts, opponents’ seconds, opponents’ thirds, opponents’ fourths, opponents’ titan kills, in the unlikely event of a further tie there will be a roll off. Finishing last in a three- or four-player game will NOT credit you with a third or fourth, respectively. These tiebreakers may change slightly before the tournament starts, but any changes will be announced.

Winning a preliminary game doesn’t automatically qualify you for the semifinals. Not winning a preliminary game doesn’t preclude you making the semifinals.

In a mutual situation both players get one titan kill and credit for the lower of the two positions available. For example, if the last 2-players in the game mutual they both get 1 Titan kill and credit for a second place.

If a player withdraws from the game (this doesn’t include conceding a battle involving his titan), his titan kill will be credited to the winner of the game (both players in a mutual for second place). The winner of a game (not a mutual) also gets a titan kill for their own surviving titan.

If you play the same player more than once, you get credit for their results multiplied by the number of times you played them.

Entry Fees / Day Rates

There will be a 5$ fee to enter the Tournament. This fee will

go towards prizes for the Tournament. In addition to the entry fee we will need to charge 2$ per session, or 3$ per day played. This money will go to the Studio of Bridge and Games to use the space.

Prizes and Bragging rights

There will be prizes given out to the top four tournament players, the winners of the tournament will be listed on the SWA web site, and the tournament results will be sent to A.R.E.A. (Avalon Hill Reliability, Experience, and Ability Scoring System – http://wolff.to/area/G_TTN.html). There may also be a plaque or trophy for the winner, but no promises.

OtherPhysical memory aids (paper, computers, etc.) are NOT

allowed except for recording information requested by the game master (such as points, who killed who, etc.). Players may only use their memories to keep track of stack contents or to make decisions in the game.

Players still in the game have an interest in the outcome of battles being fought by other players, and as such are allowed to give advice as long as they aren’t bothering the player who it is being given to. No advice may be given by anyone not playing in the game, except to point out a rules violation.

Players are NOT to agree to balanced starts. They should not be used when rolling for initial towers.

Players are expected to start each game playing to win. If it is found that a player was more interested in helping another player than how he did, adjustments to the results may be made.

For eliminators (players who have already played 6-games) to play in a game, all of the non-eliminators must be comfortable with having them play. Generally eliminators will be placed in games with people who are either already very likely to make the semifinals or have almost no chance to make the semifinals.

Judges/GMsThere will be several GMs, all of whom will be playing

the tournament. Should any dispute involving a GM occur, that cannot be resolved using Bruno Wolff ’s “Titan Errata and Clarifications", a ruling will be made by the GM(s) not involved. We are looking for more GMs! If would like to help run the tournament, especially if you know Titan well, let us know. Email us at [email protected]. GMs may still compete in the tournament.

Suggestions

If you would like to send us your suggestions, feel free. After all, this is our first time running this.

Thanks, and hope to see you at the tournament.



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CLC170 FIAT 124 Sport Coupe 1971 Blue

CLC190 HOTCHKISS 686 GS 1949 2-Tones Black and Cream

Newest high resolution pictures from IXO

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CLC193 MERCEDES 350SL (W107) Hard Top 1972 Metallic Green with Beige interiors

CLC214 JAGUAR E-TYPE Dark Blue w/ Brown Interiors 1963 (french plate French . 159 LT 75)

CLC218 VW KÄFER ULTIMA EDICION Harvestmoonbeige ( RAL VW nr B1M) 2003

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CLC219 VW KÄFER ULTIMA EDICION Aquariusblue ( RAL VW nr B5B) 2003

GTM064 SALEEN S7R #66 P.Ruberti-M.Bobbi-S.Lemeret 1000kms SPA 2005 (finish 3rd in championship)

GTM072 McLAREN F1 GTR (LONG TAIL) #27 C.Goodwin-G.Ayles FIA GT SPA 1997

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LMC113 FORD MKII #8 J.Whitemore-F.Gardner Le Mans 1966

LMC129 LANCIA LC2 (MARTINI) #4 B.Wollek-A.Nannini Le Mans 1985

LMC143 JAGUAR XJR9 “SILK CUT” #21 D.Sullivan-D.Jones-P.Cobb Le Mans 1988

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LMM101 DOME S101 (KONDO RACING) #9 U.Katayama-K.Masahiko-R.Fukuda Le Mans 2003

LMM125 CORVETTE C6R #64 O.Beretta-O.Gavin-M.Papis Le Mans 2007 (with dirty effects)

LMM151 ASTON MARTIN DBR9 #007 LMGT1 H.Frenzen-A.Piccini-K.Wendlinger 4th Le Mans 2008 (with dirty effects)

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LMM157 SALEEN S7R #50 LMGT1 Ch.Bouchut-P.Bornhauser-D.Smet 7th Le Mans 2008

MUS019 HISPANO SUIZA H6 Tulip Wood 1924… Brown (wood effects)

MUS024 MERCEDES-BENZ 770 GROSSER Cabriolet F 1930 Grey (bordeaux interiors)

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MOC054 MASERATI SPYDER CAMBIOCORSA 2002 Silver (MASERATI 90th Anniversary – Einstein-Teoria della Relatività 1916)

MOC080 JAGUAR XK Cabriolet 2005 Jaguar Racing Green

MOC094 PEUGEOT 106 Rallye 1994 White

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RAC099 ALPINE A110 1800 #1 J-L.Therier-J.Jaubert Rally San Remo 1973

RAC159 NISSAN 240 RS #2 (Red & White) S.Mehta-M.Combes 5th Rally SAFARI 1984

RAC163 PEUGEOT 504 #6 H.Mikkola-J.Todt Rally Maroc 1975

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RAM204 FORD FOCUS WRC #4 M.Hirvonen-J.Lehtinen Rally Finland 2005

RAM290 CITROEN XSARA WRC #19 G.Galli-G.Bernacchini 6th Rally Norway 2007

RAM339 FORD FOCUS RS 07 WRC #8 F. Duval Rallye Deutschland 2008 (special decoration)

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RAM343 CITROEN C4 WRC #1 (RED BULL) S. Loeb – D. Elena Rally Japan 2008

RAM348 PEUGEOT 207 S2000 #2 N.Vouilloz-N.Klinger Winner Rali Vinho da Madeira 2008 (2008 IRC Champion)

RAM351 FORD FOCUS RS 07 WRC #46 V.Rossi-C.Cassina Wales GB Rally 2008

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RAM363 PEUGEOT 207 S2000 #4 F. Loix – I. Smets 2nd Rally Monte Carlo 2009

RAM366 FIAT ABARTH GRANDE PUNTO S2000 #2 G. Basso – M. Dotta 5th Rally Monte Carlo 2009

SF21/67 FERRARI 312F1 #8 Chris Amon German GP Nurburgring 1967

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More Staff Reviews from DriveThruRPG.com and a

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Haïtian relief

The book is a 55-page pdf, with some great cover art by Rachel Yung, featuring a human and Tiefling fighting one another. Yung’s art is featured throughout, and is top notch for a 3rd-party publisher.

The idea behind the book is that it is a book of various cultures for your martial characters. But this isn’t just a book of fluff, it also features background benefits, feats, class features and powers.

These are cultures that can be dropped into literally any campaign setting and used as is, simply incorporating in the history of the world to make it match their specific culture.

The first group featured is known as the Daikort Pack, a band of nomad mercenaries who are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Their allegiances change as often as their camp. The book states that the recruits the Daikort take in are either “the best of the best, or the worst of the worst, depending on who you believe.”

The Daikort will take in anyone who is good enough to make the cut, regardless of race or sex. Most often, members of the Pack are either Rangers or Warlords.

There are some pretty cool Utility powers for Rangers and Warlords for you to use, including my favorite of the bunch, Turn the Tables, a 10th level Warlord power which allows you to use it to cancel out you and any ally’s ability to be surprised who is within Range 10, as well as a few other bonuses.

The Elessim are known as the “people of the horse”. They are a proud, noble culture, who believe that there is no better life than on the back of a horse. Their villages are small, surrounded by vast grazing land. The people have no written language and are seen by some as primitive and poor.

The book advises you to use Eladrin, Elves, Half-Elves, Halflings or Humans for your Elessim culture.

The Elesim are most commonly Fighters and Rangers, of which there are Utility powers to match.

The Ikanoi are very similar to the Inuit of North America, living in the snow and ice of the bitter north. They cover themselves in tattoos from head to foot, each tattoo telling stories about their cultures and tribes, as well as their ancestors. Each part of their body tells the story of something else. Very fascinating and adds a lot of deep backstory to your character.

It is advised you play the Ikanoi as Dragonborn, Dwarves, Half-Elves and Humans. I thought the idea of playing a Dragonborn Ikanoi as an excellent and unique idea.

Martial Flavorby Chaotic Shiny Productionshttp://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=77945&it=1&SRC=polyglotPrice: $14.95Rating: 5 out of 5 stars (from Mark Meredith)






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In this chapter, all four Martial Classes are given a nod, each being given three Utility powers to choose, as well as feats.If I were to choose a favorite culture in the book, the Ikanoi would be it.The Legions of Arytis are a very Romanesque culture, in which every citizen becomes a member of the Legion, known for

their Rogues and Fighters. They are a mixed lot of races, who are not highly spiritual, and instead worship the spirit of the city itself.

The Sijara are another nomad culture, reminiscent of Gypsies. They look disdainfully on the “Bound People”, those who live in one spot. They travel in family groups, “ranging anywhere from small troupes of three or four to huge extended families with members numbering in the dozens”.

The Sijara wear their wealth through jewelry and ornate weapons. The book says that a “quick glance at a Sijara’s many earrings is usually enough to determine his or her current monetary situation”.

The Sijara are most often Rogues and Warlords.This is my second favorite culture in the book, as I was looking, in the past, at playing a gypsy character in 4e.In the future, I’d love to see “Arcane Flavor”, “Divine Flavor”, “Primal Flavor”, and even “Psionic Flavor”.Near the back of the book, it mentions that they will be coming out with more books featuring even more details about

the five cultures, each book focusing on a specific one of the cultures. I look forward to these as well.If you are playing 4e right now, I can’t praise this book enough. It’s got everything you need to introduce new and

fascinating cultures to your current game.

I'm coming in a touch late for a hard-hitting review of Dark Heresy, mostly because I couldn’t really justify the purchase of a $50 core book for a group of players – well, for a group of players that I didn’t have at the time; my current crop likes Werewolf: The Forsaken and infighting for the sheer joy of infighting. (I could get ‘em onto Paranoia, but why spoil the fun?) I also have to apologize for its brevity, because for the life of me, I couldn’t seem to wrap my mind around some of the things that I wanted to say about the game.

A quick overview, then: The characters play acolytes of an Inquisitor, plucked from their lives by fate or design to fight against the enemies of the Imperium – mutants, alien, daemons and heretics, as well as the Inquisition’s own internal squabbles. Of

course, since this is the 40k universe, they're likely to slide into becoming what they're fighting. Think of Call of Cthulhu with a hefty dose of bolter fire, 2000AD and Heavy Metal. The amusing thing is that it’s actually a spinoff of a novel series – Dan Abnett’s Eisenhorn – which in turn were licensed fiction for an unsuccessful skirmish/role-playing game called Inquisitor. Dark Heresy is like the son of the son that you never knew that you had, to GW.

The first draft of this review echoed a common complaint about Dark Heresy: The characters start off on the very bottom rung of the ladder, working for an Inquisitor, and make their way up over time until they – assumedly – become Inquisitors in their own right, although the rules for playing as Inquisitors proper haven’t been released yet. To some degree, that complaint is accurate. You aren’t going to replicate Abnett’s excellent Eisenhorn novels when you first start playing, and as those novels are a gigantic influence on Dark Heresy, it’s going to be a disappointment for those who were thinking of stepping into Eisenhorn’s shoes – or Ravenor’s hoverthrone.

I was initially going to ding the game for this; in fact, an early draft of this review did just that. But I was browsing through some comics collections at Half Price Books – in particular, Mam Tor’s Event Horizon – and realized that most of the comic stories that I was reading, some of which were just excuses for the pretty art, could easily take place in the 40K universe. If you were to limit Dark Heresy to just playing Inquisitors, you would lose out on the underclass of the 40K universe – the smaller stories, where underarmed or underskilled characters face challenges that are more appropriate to their skill level than the enormous threats that Inquisitors deal with. By starting from the bottom, they're making it unnecessary to go back and fill in the lower levels of the 40K universe.

(In my original draft, I also suggested that Dark Heresy might have been served better by going with a slightly more indie approach – something along the lines of thrashing out the major decisions that Inquisitors have to make – but I think that going with a more familiar model was the right choice. Maybe another day.)

The system is – to the best of my knowledge – essentially a variant of the Warhammer Fantasy 2nd edition rules. Character generation begins with where you're born, ranging from the feral worlds that the Imperium cherry-picks for the best to those born in the voids of space. I'm especially pleased with the inclusion of characters from feral worlds. Usually, playing a primitive character means that you have to do some tedious role-playing in the Unfrozen Cave-Man Lawyer mode – “I don’t understand how your magic sky-bird takes me from the ground to the stars” – but in the 40K universe, that’s perfectly okay.

Dark Heresy Core Rulebookby Fantasy Flight Gameshttp://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=65872&it=1&SRC=polyglotPrice: $30.00Rating: 5 out of 5 stars (from Darren MacLennan)




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Everybody else, with the possible exception of the Adeptus Mechanicus priest, doesn’t understand either. Everybody’s essentially a savage in the 40K universe. They just have fancier clothing and more toys to show for it.

The career system is present here as well, but it’s much more limited than in Warhammer Fantasy. The Warhammer Fantasy system focuses primarily on giving you a cross-section of medieval society, ranging from dung-collector to Elven envoy. There’s just no way to do the same thing for the 40K universe, as it comprises literally trillions of people and most likely billions of jobs. Instead, it pares it down to the occupations most likely to work with an Inquisitor – roughly splittable into knowledge workers (Tech-Priest, Cleric, Adepts, Imperial Psyker), muscle (Arbitrators, Scum, Guardsman, Assassin, and Imperial Psyker again.) It may seem limiting at first glance, but again, the size of the 40K universe – and some useful tables for generating unique characteristics for your character – make sure that each character is different from one another, if the sheer scope of the 40K universe doesn’t give you enough of a hand. (I mean, imagine the differences between, say, an assassin born on a Feral World and one born as a noble on a Hive World. Same job, but much different backgrounds.) Particularly amusing are the tables of side effects of Sanctioning for Imperial Psykers – well, amusing horrifying, ranging from whispering the Imperial Litany underneath your breath to having no teeth left. There’s even an amusing reference to Dune’s gom jabbar, leaving psykers with hand scars and a fear of bald women.

Your career indicates which upgrades you can buy with experience, and once you've bought enough upgrades, you gain a rank – and new upgrades to buy. After about six ranks, you can select one of two paths to finish out your character’s advancement – for instance, sages can either specialize in arcane learning, or become psykers, while assassins finish out working within the nobility or leading their own assassin’s guilds. I may have missed details as to whether or not you can switch from career to career – for instance, a Scum getting trained as a Guardsman – but I can imagine that it’s a simple lateral move. Characters also can buy a variety of talents, filling roughly the same role as feats in the d20 system. Rather than staying relatively dry and practical, they convey some of the crazy feel of the Warhammer universe. Characters don’t have a resistance to Chaos; they have the Armor of Contempt. The guy who’s good with a flamer doesn’t have Flamer Mastery, but Cleanse And Burn. Adeptus Mechanicus characters can pick Binary Chatter if they want to talk to servitors in their own language, or take Rite of Pure Thought if they want to get rid of those pesky emotions. The only talents that really threw me were the Maglev powers, which allows Adeptus Mechanicus characters to hover purely through the grace of the Machine God; somehow, floating just doesn’t seem something that the ironbound Adeptus Mechanicus would do.

The fundamental engine for the game is a percentile roll, adjusted for difficulty; for every ten points that you beat the target number by, you get a degree of success, which translates accordingly. Cleverly, the tens digit of the attribute governing a particular skill roll is added to your rolls as a bonus. Your skills are determined entirely by your attribute – in fact, the maximum you can add to a skill is +20, so attributes are going to be the governing factor for most skills.

About combat and its intricacies: I would love to tell you about them. I really would. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to do so, and so cannot tell you about its intricacies, its whiff factor – which I have heard is a problem – or its lethality. I will note that, thanks to a conversation on rpg.net, you cannot fire a pistol or firearm at point-blank rnage; if you can close to within melee distance, and your opponent only has a firearm, you can carve him up like a Christmas goose until he can limber a weapon. This makes a lot of 40K’s signature weapons – chainswords, choppas, power swords, and what-not – actually useful, rather than decorative. Regrettably, you may have to seek another review for further details on how the combat system works.

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The sheer scale of the Warhammer 40,000 universe forces Dark Heresy to focus on a particular sector of Imperial space – the Calixian sector – and they do a really excellent job of giving you an idea of some of the sheer, 70’s-metal/prog-rock album-cover craziness that populates the Warhammer universe. If you're looking for surrealism, there’s Ambulon, a city built around an ancient machine that strides through the wasteland mining and drilling for oil, slowing down only when it needs to offload its spoils. If you want dark, medieval brutality, you've got Sepheris Secundus, where a brutalized serf class slaves under the local barons. The Misericord is another medieval society in space, portraying a Gormenghast-esque society – full of ancient ritual and paegantry, its original meaning forgotten – floating through the Warp.

The metaplot deals with Komus, the mysterious Tyrant Star, an enormous black sun that appears and disappears through Imperial Space, althought it’s more a tease than anything substantial; as I'm to understand it, it'll be fleshed out further in Dark Heresy’s campaigns. (I had a friend of mine with the last name of Komus, making me imagine a red-haired nerd in the sky every time I read the thing’s name.) Even better are some of the smaller planets, reminders that you can take just about any story published in Heavy Metal or any heavy metal album cover and translate it into the 40K universe. I particularly like the world where everybody over the age of forty mysteriously dies; it’s just Star Trek enough a concept to want to drag it through the demolition derby of the 40K universe.

The book closes out with an adventure for new acolytes, and let me pause here for a digression: If you're writing your own game, putting an adventure in your core book is amazingly useful. It’s essentially an extended example for how the game should be played, a way to translate the cold grammar of the system and the setting into the language of actual game play. When I was talking with Jason Sartin recently, he paraphrased something that somebody else wrote: a game’s sample adventure may or may not accurately reflect the game that you just read, but it almost always reflects the game the designer wanted to make. In this particular case, I don’t know if the game’s primary designers were responsible for the adventure, but it at least gives you an idea of what can be done.

The adventure itself is decent, but not fantastic. One problem is that the author has no real ear for how people talk. It’s hard to write character dialogue without getting a lot of practice, but that’s why you have to practice it – and practice it hard – so that you don’t wind up writing stuff that sounds like it was hacked out during the 3rd edition gold rush. For instance – and I should warn about spoilers:

“A dark spirit has returned. The Ashleen name it the Dancer at the Threshold. Others call it the Crow Father… and we have seen why. It has many names and to say some of them is perilous. It is ancient and wicked, and delights in slaughter and leading men to their deaths with lies of their heart’s desire. My people record their past through spoken tales, but some things are too dangerous to say aloud. Take this book for it may help you.”

Stiff as all hell. Or try this:“Enough!” Raine cries. “There has been enough bloodshed this day. We will go and shall not return. I see now that I was

wrong. I see now that you are damned and the crow sits whispering on your shoulder. You have led these people to ruin. My people will have no part of it!”

Not really so much a human being talking, but a series of clues enswaddled in dialogue. Or take this description of Ghostflowers:

Drusus later remarked in his memoirs that the only memorable aspect of the planet was the vast felds of wild fowerswhich resembled “Shimmering felds of rippling explosions, caught at that fleeting moment between beauty and

destruction”The problem is that the author is making is to not create a unique voice for each of his characters. Would an Imperial

general describes rippling explosions as being “caught at that fleeting moment between beauty and destruction"? Would a female shaman list a daemon’s attributes in such a straightforward, listlike manner? Nobody is the RPG equivalent of David Mamet, but the World of Darkness books did pretty well at creating relatively unique characters, distinguishable from each other by voice alone. Abnett’s characters are fairly similar, but he knows enough to give them a particular quirk or character trait that he can come back to when he wants to distinguish one from another. (Voke’s cold authoritarianism versus, say, Aemos’ “most peturbatory” and perpetual attention to detail.) It seems like a small thing, but investigative games require memorable characters – and good role-playing – to set them apart from each other. It would have been useful to see that in the opening adventure.

The adventure itself is pretty straightforward, almost like a Western. The characters are sent off to a backwater town in order to investigate psychic phenomena, have a few fights, then confront the Big Bad at the end. There’s a lot of neat bits that work well. For instance, there’s a massive fight at one point during the adventure. Rather than simulating the battle proper, the adventure cleverly lets PCs interact with events that occur during the battle, with success bringing victory that much sooner. It’s similar to Legend of the Five Ring’s battle system, except on a smaller scale and without the chart. I think that one of its primary problems is that it’s mostly about moving the characters from setpiece to setpiece – here’s a big battle, here’s

39

the climactic showdown with the villain – rather than giving them a framework to investigate in. Maybe you want something railroady to begin with, especially if you're a brand-new GM, so take that criticism with a grain of salt.

There are a few things that the game could handle better. While there’s some space devoted to the investigative model of a Dark Heresy campaign, it would be nice to see some of the advice given in Call of Cthulhu repeated here – a flowchart, or a system to create a clue matrix, would be immensely useful. To be sure, Dark Heresy can do a lot – not just detective work – but I only know how to create investigative adventures because I've read just about every Call of Cthulhu adventure there is. (Even Death in Norway and Alone on Halloween. I rule!) There is, however, a handy fix to this: Call of Cthulhu adventures translate very well into Dark Heresy terms, with some legwork and extra combat.

My other complaint is something that I ultimately decided that the book answered neatly: To wit, the vast amount of power that an Inquisitor – and the Inquisition – wields over Imperial society. In order to avoid allowing the characters getting a tongue bath from every official in the Imperium, as well as avoiding turning the game into a rump Paranoia, Inquisitorial agents have a set of rules to follow. One of them is that you shouldn’t use your master’s name as your own, which is essentially an injunction against using the Inquisition’s power for your own. In other words, if you wander around using the Inquisition’s name for every little thing, the Inquisition will be justified in getting you acquainted with the business end of an excruciator. The acolytes do, unfortunately for them, occupy the same niche as the Imperial Guardsman; he'll survive and struggle on behalf of a larger force which may or may not care if he’s killed outright. As they get more powerful, though, they may be able to get to pull some of the Is-Vader-Going-To-Have-To-Choke-a-Bitch exercises of power that Inquisitors wield. (I had to work that line in there somewhere.)

(And again, I have to correct myself. I believe that the various rules that Inquisitorial Acolytes are to follow is actually contained in the Inquisitor’s Handbook, not the core book. So the whole issue of how much power Acolytes wield is up in the air if you go by the core book and the core book alone.)

On the other hand, there’s a segment in the adventure contained within the book where the characters are detained by Imperial authority – and the characters are going to be eager to drop the mention that they work for the Inquisition when they're staring at the inside of a prison cell. It happens again when the characters are sent to retrieve somebody, and that person refuses a direct request from an Inquisitorial acolyte. An actual system to measure Inquisitorial status would be nice, so the characters know, or can guess at, where the limits are. Perhaps the Inquisitor’s Handbook goes into more detail? I hope so.

Artwise – well, Games Workshop pretty much built itself on the success of its artists and sculptors, so the art in here is fantastic. Again, I have to say that a lot of the illustrations feel weirdly too… clean. If you look at John Blanche’s artwork, he’s got stray brushlines everywhere, almost to the point where you're not sure if you're looking at an Imperial Guardsman or a Rorscach blot wearing a flak helmet, but the essential energy of his design comes through. Here, most of the new art depicts stuff that’s already been drawn before, so it’s difficult to be truly creative without stepping on the toes of GW’s design staff.

Is it worth buying? I've been eyeing it for months, but $60 was a pretty steep price, so I eschewed it in favor of slightly more affordable games. But having read it through, I want to actually run a Dark Heresy game, which is something that doesn’t often happen with the games I read. So while it does have a lot of unpolished areas, while it has to bite off much more than it can chew, it’s definitely the game that a lot of people have been waiting for a long time to play.

There is a shimmering strangeness to this piece, with undertones suggestive of great age and wisdom… peaceful and yet watchful: just the way that I at least tend to think of those elves who live in the depths of forests far away from the shorter-lived races.

These elves are contented and at peace, absorbed in contemplation – an occasional owl-call reminded you that it’s an aboreal setting, perhaps tree-houses or dwellings nestled around the foot of great trees in a clearing deep in the forest and rarely seen by outsiders. In a way, while not actually unfriendly, it does not seem that welcoming either.

I tend to use music when writing rather than running games, and this piece certainly brings up ideas, images, that conjure up the concept of a classic deep forest elven city. Even without the clue of the title a quiet and calm forest is suggested.

In game, this one is best for a peaceful interlude, perhaps the characters have earned the title ‘elf-friend’ and have been welcomed – for surely had they not been welcome, things would not sound so calm!

Elven City at Nightby Sonic Legendshttp://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=77817&it=1&SRC=polyglotPrice: $2.99Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (from Megan Robertson)




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Sitting here with snow on the ground this is very pleasant – it’s definitely summertime in THIS forest. The opening is pastoral, with birds twittering amidst a chord-structure that indeed suggests trees, well-established, tall

and straight, probably decicuous, sunlight filtering through the canopy…

It will be necessary to be careful about volume if this is to be used during a game – at my normal listening level it would intrude too much and be a distraction, although played more quietly it can be hard to distinguish the ’sounds of nature’ – bird song and even the odd frog croak – which take this work beyond a pleasant piece of music to a distinctly outdoors forest scene-setter.

One great advantage is that is wholly-novel music, too often one gets distracted by hearing something you know, and end up thinking about the song rather than the game.

If you like background music, this could – played quietly! – provide a good background to peaceful meanderings through woodland. Perhaps lulling the players into the feeling that everything here is friendly… but is it? You'd need to stop the music if you decide something overtly hostile has arrived, though.

Forest Journeyby Sonic Legendshttp://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=76423&it=1&SRC=polyglotPrice: $2.99Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (from Megan Robertson)

Remember that old RPG trope where, after the adventure, the player says “I think I’ll just blow my share of the treasure on ale and whores”? Ah, those were the days – not so much for the sentiment itself, but for the in-game attitude taken by the player at the time. I’ve yet to play in a game where the PCs didn’t spend their loot on better weapons, armor, or magic items – things that give a mechanical advantage for their dice rolls, rather than the in-game pleasures of booze or babes. However, The Intimate Shape Festhall, the latest Evocative City Sites, from Rite Publishing, offers something to those PCs who do enjoy paying for a lady of the evening.

This product comes with three PDFs. The two supplementary PDFs are enlarged maps, each of one of the Festhall’s two floors. The maps are black and white, and broken up across the multiple pages since they’re in a size large enough for print-and-play.

Literally lay the sheets side-by-side after they come out of the printer and you have the place. This was very useful, though I found it a tad ironic considering the nature of the building itself, but more on that later.

The main PDF is twenty-five pages long. That said, it’s actually far less than that when you take into account that not only does each map reappear here shrunk down so that each is a single page in size, but the full-size multi-page reproductions are also tacked onto the end of the file. I don’t understand why these were also put here, since they’re also in their own PDFs that come bundled with this one; the reproduction seems superfluous.

Beyond that oddity, the main PDF does quite well for itself, having full bookmarks to each of the major sections of the main entries (which take up about nine pages altogether). Each page has full borders around it (the multi-page maps notwithstanding). All of the interior artwork is black and white, and taken from public domain images; I found these quite fitting, as they tended to depict imagery of frolicking men and women that was done in what seemed like a “tasteful” manner – the sort of thing you’d expect to find in a high-quality brothel.

The Intimate Shape Festhall is just such a brothel, of course, and the book opens with five short adventure seeds for it, which seems rather odd since you’d think that you’d have to introduce people to the site first and then go over ways to use it in-game. Presumably this was done for space, as these are awkwardly crammed onto the same page as the credits.

An opening narrative describes a traveler’s going to the Festhall and renting a woman for the evening, dropping hints about how the place and the lady seem perfectly suited to his desires. After this, a brief description is given of the (apparently only) two ladies who work at the Festhall, Madame Seraphine and Lady Jezebel, along with a note of what both are really after. The rub here, of course, is that both women are doppelgangers (though each of a different variety).

Evocative City Sites: The Intimate Shape Festhallby Rite Publishinghttp://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=76399&it=1&SRC=polyglotPrice: $1.99Rating: 3 out of 5 stars (from Shane O'Connor)







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It was right around this point, however, that I became a bit uncertain as to how exactly the book was trying to portray these two. Partially, this is because it’s uncertain if the text describing the two women, which follows immediately after the opening narrative, is meant to still be in-character or not; this creates some confusion when it starts to discuss their motives and goals – is that the narrator speaking in-character, or is this meta-text meant for the GM only? Further, there seem to be some contradictions in their aspirations. Madame Seraphine, for example, is said to want to create a place “where shapeshifterd debunk the stereotype that all changelings are deceptive assassins.” Even leaving aside that prostitution doesn’t seem likely to get her the respect she’s looking for, it mentions in the same paragraph how mysterious she is and that little is known about her. So already, I’m confused if people know that she’s a doppelganger or not. The fact that Lady Jezebel is working there to try and recruit allies to overthrow her father also seems to fly somewhat in the face of Seraphine’s ambition of making shapeshifters look good.

Both are given full stats (along with a small handful of new feats for monsters), and then we get stats for the Festhall itself. See, the two doppelgangers aren’t the only shapeshifters there… the building is actually a monstrously big mimic. And that’s it. There’s no word on why the mimic is there, what it wants, what it gets out of working with Seraphine and Jezebel, or anything. Don’t even ask if people know that they’re walking around inside a giant creature that could eat them at any moment if it wanted. It’s another in a series of head-scratching moments.

Ultimately, this book isn’t bad so much as it is unpolished. From needlessly reproducing the maps to uncertain transitions between in-game narration and meta-game description, to the characters’ motivations seeming ill-defined and in some cases totally undefined, the book suffers from a series of missteps. The good news is that none of this is fatal for the product; indeed, as these are largely gaps of presentation, a GM can easily fill in the blanks and have these characters occupy whatever niche they find necessary; it’s just a shame that the book doesn’t do that by itself.

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STAR FLEET ALERT29 DECEMBER 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR from ADB, Inc.!

CONTACTAmarillo Design Bureau, Inc. PO Box 8759, Amarillo TX 79114 PH: (806)-351-1950To order products, contact [email protected] receive these Alerts, contact [email protected] our updated website: www.StarFleetGames.com

Was last year good or bad for you? It no longer matters!NOW it’s time for a NEW YEAR!

Make it happy. Make it fun. Keep it safe.Decide that you are going to have a good year and you will!

A NEW YEAR,A NEW CHANCE,A NEW START,

A NEW OPPORTUNITY.

43

Printing and Design Tips from PrintIndustry.com

Flatbed Inkjet Printers

Inkjet printers have been around for a long time. Over the past several years, however, the technology has come of age. Not only are large-format inkjet printers regularly available including augmented ink sets to improve color fidelity, but now these digital presses are expanding beyond the cut-sheet and small roll-fed format altogether.

Flatbed inkjet printers, such as the Inca, allow the service provider to print directly on metal, wood, plastic, and other rigid media. This eliminates the interim step of attaching the flexible output of a traditional roll-fed inkjet printer to a flat substrate. The printed product can therefore be used immediately.

With this new technology, digital print providers can more easily produce indoor and outdoor signage, point-of-purchase displays, trade show graphics, backlit signs, and banners. Some can even print on glass doors. In addition, the output is often cheaper than the same job would be if printed via the silkscreen process (which would have been the preferred option prior to the invention of the flatbed inkjet press). In addition, halftone screens for these inkjet presses can be much finer than those used for silkscreen.

Flatbed inkjet printers are often huge. The print area on the Inca, for instance, exceeds ten feet by five feet. In addition, substrates as thick as 2 inches can be imaged on this press.

Until now, inkjet presses provided either high resolution or quick output. Now, with inkjet print heads distributed across the entire width of the print bed, a balance has been reached between speed and quality. In addition, these presses can print in both directions (known as bidirectional printing). Flatbed inkjet presses can image over 2,600 square feet per hour at resolutions up to 600 DPI, from edge to edge of the print bed.

Color ink-sets have improved as well, and now include CMYK plus other colors (such as either light magenta and light cyan, or orange and violet or green) to extend the gamut of printable hues. In addition, some large-format printers allow you to lay down opaque white either as a base on which to print the CMYK inks (that is, to improve opacity) or just as an additional color. Also, various coatings can be applied over the printed inkjet product.

Even more exciting is the ability of flatbed inkjet presses to use UV inks, allowing immediate curing of the ink upon exposure to ultraviolet light. This facilitates the printing of intense colors and precise halftone dots on multiple and varied substrates in record time.

And as with all other digital processes, whether xerographic or inkjet, these new presses allow for endlessly

variable output. In all cases, the creative art files can be altered to make each printed piece specifically target each individual recipient.

Web-Fed Inkjet Printers

Just as there are now both a flat-sheet (or small roll-fed) digital equivalent to the traditional offset press and a flat-bed digital equivalent like the Inca, there is also a larger roll-fed (or web) option to consider.

While the flat-bed inkjet press would be appropriate for signage and other large-format printing on rigid media, and the traditional flat-sheet and roll-fed inkjet press might be perfect for a small press run of a variable-data job, for longer jobs (and particularly for long jobs requiring variable data imaging), the larger web-fed inkjet press is ideal. (To understand this difference, consider how a web offset press is more appropriate than a sheetfed offset press for long static press runs. This is because web rolls are more economical than boxes of press sheets, webs run through the press at faster speeds than sheets, and webs can be printed on both sides at once.) More precisely, these large-format inkjet presses can run 30” web rolls at a speed of 400 or more feet per minute, depending on the press and the specific job being printed.

In much the same way as a web offset press feeds paper from huge rolls through consecutive inking units and then (in the case of heatset-web presses) through ovens, roll-fed inkjet presses deliver a continuous ribbon of paper across the inkjet imaging heads. At the delivery end of the press, this paper can then be cut into sheets or rewound onto rolls for later finishing operations.

As with both cut-sheet (and small-roll) inkjet presses, and flatbed inkjet presses, many web-fed inkjet presses can use UV inks. In these cases, the UV lamps can cure the wet ink film instantly, allowing for immediate finishing operations. This can shorten the production schedule dramatically. It can also allow printing on non-porous substrates such as plastic or film, which would not be appropriate for either traditional offset printing or non-UV inkjet printing. In addition, these UV inks are especially light fast. They allow for superior color saturation. They have good rub resistance, and they do not release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere. Of course, for jobs printed on absorbent substrates, these web-fed inkjet presses can be reconfigured to use more traditional oil-based inks.Steven Waxman is a printing consultant. He teaches corporations how to save money buying printing, brokers printing services, and teaches prepress techniques. Steven has been in the printing industry for thirty-three years working as a writer, editor, print buyer, photographer, graphic designer, art director, and production manager.

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From Reflexive Arcade

Last Chance To Get The Build-a-lot Game Pack! — Offer Ends January 18, 2010

Individual Price: $27.96Bundle Price: $14.95You Save: $13.01 (47% off!)

This Fun-Filled Hit Series Includes 4 Titles!

45

News from Battlefront.com

SC WW2 Global Conflict – full game manual online

Battlefront.com and Fury Software have just posted the full Strategic Command WWII Global Conflict game manual (193 pages!) for online viewing. Strategic Command WWII Global Conflict is the boldest and biggest game yet in the award winning Strategic Command series of historical WW2 grand strategy games, spanning the entire globe, adding countless new features, and allowing players to lead the nations of the world during those fateful years between 1939 and 1945 (and later). The full game manual gives a sneak peek at what’s in the upcoming release (later this first quarter of 2010).

Click here to jump directly to the Game ManualOfficial game web site: www.battlefront.com/global

Kursk 1943 – Intro Trailer

Kursk 1943Start the New Year with a Bang!! As we’re almost about to begin the countdown to the release of 1C Company’s newest epic World War Two title in the Theatre of War series – Theatre of War 2 – KURSK 1943, we decided to release the official Intro video today. It will knock your socks off! ‘Nuff said. (Oh, and we updated the Min and Recommended Tech Specs, too)

Click here to jump directly to the Kursk 1943 media page

CMSF MARINES v1.21a patch & hotfix

We have just released a v1.21a Hotfix for CMSF Marines with a slightly modified version of the original Combat Mission: Shock Force Marines campaign “Semper Fi, Syria!”. The modifications fix known problems with scoring in the scenario “Afternoon Delight” in particular, but do not offer new functionality to the campaign itself. The Hotfix is distributed via the Battlefront Repository:

http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=314&func=fileinfo&id=577

NOTE: This Hotfix is only needed for players who have downloaded the v1.21 patch before today.At the same time as the Hotfix, we are also re-releasing the v1.21 patch as 1.21a, including the above Hotfix. Please update

your download mirrors accordingly. The new v1.21a patch is available from here (same link as the old patch):

http://www.battlefront.com/u.php?2123091416






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Ambrosia Releases Soundboard 1.0.5

ROCHESTER, New York — Ambrosia Software announced today the release of Soundboard 1.0.5. Like cart machines in broadcast radio studios, Soundboard lets users map sound effects, audio clips, or musical accompaniment to keys on the Mac keyboard, easily triggered with a single tap.

Get trigger happy today, download Soundboard now: http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/utilities/soundboard/Soundboard 1.0.5 features the following

changes/enhancements:

Dramatically improved performance and • decreased latency of playback engineFixed an issue where sounds could stop • randomly on Intel-based laptopsUpdated the application icon to 512x512• Other enhancements and bug fixes•

Soundboard answers the needs of podcasters and broadcasters everywhere looking for an elegant way to instantly incorporate sound clips into their live performances, or to quickly and efficiently use onboard audio to create custom musical mashups.

Offering instant, one tap access to any audio clips, FX, or music on your Mac for use in podcasting or DJ mashups. Soundboard combines drag and drop ease with a feature-rich lossless editor to create the ideal platform for live performances.

Combine this easy-to-adapt workspace with the recording power of WireTap Studio – or WireTap Anywhere and your favorite high-end editor – and your creative and recording potential is boundless.

Soundboard is available immediately for $29. Due to popular demand we are continuing our special upgrade pricing option “Does your software Byte? Jump on Board!”

so that registered Sound Byte users may purchase Soundboard for the outstanding price of $19.As always, registered WireTap Studio or WireTap Anywhere customers continue to receive a 25 percent discount when

purchasing Soundboard. Soundboard requires Mac OS X 10.5.7 or later; and a 1.25GHz G4 with 1G RAM or better is recommended. Soundboard

is a Universal Binary application.For further details on Soundboard, please visit http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/utilities/soundboard/

Ambrosia Software, Inc. – publisher of award-winning programs for the Macintosh, iPhone, iPod touch, and Windows distributes a full line of utility, productivity, and anti-productivity (game) desktop software via the Internet as shareware and also via Apple’s App Store for instant purchase with iPhone or iPod touch. Unregistered versions of Ambrosia’s desktop products on DVD-ROM can be obtained at Ambrosia’s web site, http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com or by calling Ambrosia’s order center at 585-325-1910.

Media Contact:

John ChamplinAmbrosia Software, [email protected]





47

Tech News from ZDNet

Is the iPhone touchscreen more accurate than Android? Study says yes

The Apple iPhone bested its Android competitors when it comes to tracking and accuracy on its touchscreen, according to a new study. by Andrew Nusca

READ FULL STORY

CES 2010: Top 10 new e-book readers

E-book readers exploded in popularity on the show floor at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, in an array of colors, shapes, sizes and capabilities. Here are the top 10 e-readers I saw at this year’s show.

READ FULL STORY

Microsoft shakes up its Office business

What’s unusual about Microsoft’s official announcement of Office 2010 prices is not the numbers themselves but rather the sea change they represent for the traditional Office sales and distribution model. I see three trends at work.

READ FULL STORYIs $99 too much for Office 2010?• Office 2010 ‘cheapest ever’ for students: Pricing details • emergeMicrosoft rethinks, reveals prices for its Office 2010 SKU line-• up

Asus R.O.G. G73Jh (photos)

The new Asus R.O.G. G73Jh (as in “Republic of Gamers”) aims to “excite your visual senses with design cues inspired by the Lockheed F117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter,” according to the company.

VIEW THE GALLERYAsus NX90 (photos)• Gallery: Meet Google’s Nexus One• HP’s TouchSmart tm• 2

Many ‘GodModes’ to be found in Windows 7

Those intrigued by the “GodMode” in Windows 7 may

be interested to know that there are many other similar shortcuts hidden within the operating system. by Ina Fried CNET News

READ FULL STORY

IT failures, weak processes and an attempted terrorist attack

Human error, a failure to conduct database searches, weak information technology and process problems contributed to a security failure that allowed Nigerian national Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to sneak an explosive device onto a Northwest flight Christmas Day, according to a White House review of the terrorist attack. by Larry Dignan

READ FULL STORY

Assessing Google’s showdown with China: Does it make sense?

On the surface, Google’s threat to shut down its China operations after a cyberattack on its infrastructure looks like sheer business lunacy. How can the search giant give up on the world’s biggest growth market? It’s easier than you’d think. by Larry Dignan

READ FULL STORYBravo! Google takes a stand for human rights in China• The Google escalation and open sourc• e

A troubling new form of media manipulation

Traffic to certain news stories could become manipulated by special interest groups resulting in a distorted media. by Tom Foremski

READ FULL STORY

Seven tech advances that will make Minority Report a reality

Think the futuristic technology portrayed in the movie Minority Report is fantasy? Think again. Here are seven examples of tech from the film that have become a reality.

READ FULL STORYPlatelet-rich plasma: Can docs, hospitals, pro athletes be • wrong?Man behind the space tourists talks about man and the • moonHow the Navy could save football• Could your driveway give you cancer? Scientists find • carcinogens in dustScientists find human bone substitute in treated woo• d




























48

Reviews

Tekken 6Tekken 6 continues the

glorious fighting tradition that the other games in the series offered, and does it for the first time on the Xbox 360 as well as the PS3, with 42 fighters ready at startup. That’s a lot of bang for the buck.

http://www.gameindustry.com/review/item.asp?id=1160

My Boyfriend It’s a bit of a stretch to say

that this game teaches flirting, which the box implies, but perhaps it would make some young girls a little less hesitant of talking and interacting with boys. Whether or not parents think that is a good thing or not is up to you.


Assassin’s Creed IIAssassin’s Creed II is everything the first game should

have been and more. Gone is all the repetitive grinding, replaced with a deep storyline and white-hot assassination

action. And it happens to be one of the most beautiful titles we've seen this year, with perfect Italian Renaissance cities.


Podcasts: The Geek’s Games of the Year

Not wanting to wait for the official game of the year contest, Todd and Kelly make their picks for the top games of 2009. And as a bonus, they also pick the worst of the bunch. You might be in for a few surprises this week on The Gamer Geeks.

http://www.gameindustry.com/podcast/item.asp?id=50

Editorials: Dangerous Demos

Kelly takes a look at four demos for some dangerous games getting ready to hit the market. Find out what Dante’s Inferno, Divinity 2: Ego Draconis, Army of Two 40th Day and Bayonetta have in store for us. And get ready for the full release of these amazing titles!

h t t p : / / w w w. g a m e i n d u s t r y. c o m / e d i t o r i a l / i t e m .asp?id=454

GiN Playmate: New Year’s Avalanche

Scared off by Modern Warfare 2, tons of great games were pushed back past the holiday season. Now that 2010 has begun in earnest, heavy hitters are coming down the mountain like an avalanche. Can gamers keep up?

h t t p : / / w w w. g a m e i n d u s t r y. c o m / e d i t o r i a l / i t e m .asp?id=455

Stock Market: Happy New Year

Well we didn’t make it to 9K in 2009, but it does look like we're well positioned to get there in 2010. Can you believe it’s 2010 already? Happy New Year!

http://www.gameindustry.com/gindex/default.aspCopyright Game Industry News 2010. Game Industry News and GIN, plus the entire contents of this newsletter are copyright Noble Order Press Enterprises. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced without express written permission from the publisher, Nate Wooley. [email protected] www.gameindustry.com

News from GameIndustry.com













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Polyglot Volume 4 Issue 15

Documents

Transcript of Polyglot Volume 4 Issue 15